Google Voice: Free Calling Has Arrived

When I wrote a story about various VOIP initiatives a decade ago, nearly every expert I spoke to spouted the same prediction: within 10 years, all phone calls will be free.

The rationale behind the pronouncement was that the wires and systems used for phone calls will eventually be used to transfer data, just like everything else. You don't get charged for visiting a Web page, so why get charged for making a phone call, if both are essentially data? The prediction seems like a sound one, but tradition stood in the way.

One product leads the way in the realization of this prediction: Google Voice. I use the service for all of my domestic long distance calling. I pay nothing, and the calls are routed over normal phone lines and dedicated VOIP networks, rather than the Internet.

Some years ago, my family got tired of AT&T's billing practices, so we discontinued all long distance service, opting to use calling cards. It was inconvenient to dial in lengthy calling card numbers, but once memorized, it was a better solution than having a pricey long distance phone service. The system saved us about 80 percent in long distance fees. AT&T kept re-installing long distance, and we kept fighting them. The company finally gave up, but it insisted that we pay for service that we never ordered. The more dealings I had with AT&T, the more I hated its sleazy business practices. The company is the main reason I refuse to get on the iPhone bandwagon.

A number of voice-over-the-Internet and call-back technologies have appeared over the years. It was just a matter of time before they were consolidated by a company with the clout to push the technology into the mainstream, the way Google has with Google Voice.

As the product continues to expand, I can see a number of scenarios play out. Google Voice is a nearly-complete solution to phone management. All that's missing is free calling overseas. Once a Google Voice-like service appears in a European country, you can be sure that peering will link the two services. Other companies will soon take the hint, and we will eventually see free calls over normal phone lines throughout Europe.

Europeans seem even more intent on this sort of thing than we do. Skype first appeared over there and became popular before arriving in the US. Everyone in the tech scene had an account and were using them to byass the nation phone system. Many voice on cell phone WiFi connection technologies were developed there, as well.

Now that Google is behind the latest push for free calls, the whole process will likely be accelerated worldwide. Soon enough we'll all be wondering why the whole process took so long, and why Google had to be behind it. Where was Microsoft? Or IBM? What about the almighty Apple? None of the CBG (Came Before Google) companies seem to have any telecom vision whatsoever.

Google entered the phone business with Android. The company saw Google Voice as the next logical step in the evolution of its it telephony business. There's even a Google Voice Android app that gives Google phones a cost-cutting edge. Of all of the major players in the phone spaceNokia, Ericsson, Sony, Samsung, Apple, Motorolaonly Google thought of this idea? Ericsson has been in the phone switch business and knew the writing was on the wall. What were they thinking? Nokia was working on all sorts of mesh-technologies, saw thing coming, and did nothing?

The notion of the IP routed free phone call has been openly discussed for a decade or more. You have to wonder if Google is the only company out there that is actually on the ball. It's as if they have zero competition in the ideas department. Apple has a lock on handsome designs and the cool factor, and Microsoft has a lock on the mainstream OS, because it understands the concept of legacy computing. But who is as aggressive as Google?

Yahoo might have been able to create such a service, but the company lost its way when it went Hollywood under Terry Semel, and it has failed to reset itself. Yahoo could have done Google Voice.

Once it dawns on everyone what Google has really done here, you can be sure mediocre clones from companies like Microsoft will suddenly appear. But those products will almost certainly be polluted with notions like "free phone calls for $10 a month!" and other idiocies.

Once again Google has managed to make other tech companies look foolish. It's a recurring theme.

John Dvorak is a columnist for PCMag.com and the host of the weekly TV video podcast CrankyGeeks. His work is licensed around the world. Previously a columnist for Forbes, Forbes Digital, PC World, Barrons, MacUser, PC/Computing, Smart Business and other magazines and newspapers. Former editor and consulting editor for Infoworld. Has appeared in the New York Times, LA Times, Philadelphia Enquirer, SF Examiner, Vancouver Sun. Was on the start-up team for CNet TV as well as ZDTV. At ZDTV (and TechTV) was host of Silicon...
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